50 gardaí involved in probe into man’s death

Up to 50 gardaí are now involved in the investigation into the death of a man whose battered body was dumped down a waste chute at a apartment complex in Cork City.

The body of the man, who is understood to be homeless and aged about 60 years, was found in the chute by a maintenance worker who was called in last Monday after residents complained there was a blockage in the funnel which goes from the top of the five-floor complex to a skip at ground level.

It’s believed the chute was cleared last Friday and when the maintenance worker went to clear it again at around 5.30pm on Monday the body was discovered.

Following a postmortem on the man’s body, gardaí upgraded their inquiry to “unlawful killing” status.

Superintendent Barry McPolin, who is leading the investigation, said gardaí were yet able to formally identify the victim.

However, the Irish Examiner believes one avenue of inquiry they are following is that the man is Irish, had lived in Cork for a number of years and was formerly a resident at the Cork Simon Community complex.

Supt McPolin said gardaí had been in contact with a missing man’s relatives in order to rule him in or out of him their investigation.

“We are also liaising with all homeless shelters in an effort to identify this man. We can’t positively identify him yet, but we think he is male, caucasian, and possibly Irish. We need to get his relatives to provide a positive identification,” the senior garda said.

The name of the dead man has been mentioned locally as somebody who originally came from the Gurranabraher area of the city, but gardaí say they won’t speculate on this until they know the full facts of his identity.

“The man was of slight build and around 5ft 6in tall. He has greyish, white hair and moustache. He was wearing a fleece, beige-coloured top and beige trousers. He also had a dark-coloured T-shirt on,” the senior garda said.

A special incident room has been sent up at the Bridewell Garda Station and anybody with information is asked to call (021) 4943330.